Comfort in a Bathroom
by willowscribe
Summary: Hermione, furious about Ron and Lavender, goes off to Myrtle's bathroom to vent. What she doesn't expect is to stumble across Draco Malfoy. Crying. Because Draco Malfoy doesn't cry. Or at least, he didn't. And Hermione decides to comfort him. Subtle D/Hr


**Okay, this is my first oneshot, so I hope you guys like it. It's Dramione, but subtly, so it could be interpreted on friendship as well. It's all about how you read it.**

**I wrote this after seeing the HBP movie and starting thinking... if you could listen to the song 'Slughorn's Confession' from the HBP soundtrack while you read, it really sets the mood. You can find it on YouTube, but won't let me post links.**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. Otherwise Hermione would have married Draco, not Ron.**

**Anyhow, enjoy!**

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Hermione wandered through the corridors aimlessly. She should probably be in class right now, but she honestly didn't care. Maybe she would hide out in Myrtle's bathroom: Ro- no one in their right mind would dare go in there.

She pushed open the door to Myrtle's bathroom without looking up from her feet. Nor did she look up when she thought she heard someone else. They were as entitled to their privacy as she was. The heavy wooden door fell shut behind her with a loud bang.

She heard a gasp, and couldn't help it- she looked up. She may believe that a person was entitled to secrets, but that didn't mean that she wasn't curious about them.

What she didn't expect to see was Draco Malfoy.

He was across the room from her, staring as if he had never seen her before. His eyes were wild and… slightly puffy? It almost looked as if he had been… crying.

She wouldn't have believed he could be crying it if anyone had told her so, but seeing him for herself, she believed it. He just looked so _tired_, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

His head jerked a little, seeing her look at him. He reached for his wand, but Hermione pulled hers out faster. "Look," she said, as calmly as possible. "I know we both have problems with each other, but I'll leave you alone if you leave me."

Draco stared at her for seconds that dragged on like hours, but finally gave the barest of nods. Hermione inclined her head slightly back, and locked herself in a toilet stall. She sank to the floor, still wondering.

But as she head nothing from Malfoy but the running water of a sink, she allowed herself to sink back into her own misery. Ron… and Lavender, of all people! Honestly, all they did was snog! How was that, as Ron had called it, _chemistry_? And to think she had planned on inviting him to Slughorn's party! Well, not anymore, she wasn't. He could just spend Christmas snogging Lavender. It wasn't like he was going to miss her and Harry while they were at the party, anyway.

Speaking of that party, she needed a new date if Ron wasn't coming. Maybe she could get a little revenge on her part; attacking Ron with birds most certainly wasn't enough. Maybe she could take someone Ron really hated to the party- that would get him angry! But who to take…?

There was Seamus, maybe, because he was Ron's roommate. Dean was off limits of course, as he was going with Ginny, and she couldn't go with Harry- that would just be wrong!

Maybe… Cormac? Hermione winced at the thought. McLaggen was a complete idiot (though admittedly a good-looking one). And he would certainly get a rise out of Ron. But would she be able to stand spending a whole evening with him?

Still, McLaggen was her best hope. She would have to appeal to his vanity, but that shouldn't be a problem, seeing as he was so arrogant in the first place.

It was just… Ron and Lavender. _Lavender!_ Hermione supposed she had always thought, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she and Ron would end up together. This wasn't how it was supposed to work out! Ron wasn't supposed to be happy with Lavender! He was supposed to be happy with her!

Cormac was the way to go.

With a decision on her course of revenge made, Hermione felt much calmer. She took a few deep breaths, wiped a stray tear off her cheek (When had she started crying?), and walked out of the stall.

Malfoy was still out there, staring at himself in the mirror. The sink was still running, but it was at the point of overflowing. Malfoy didn't seem to notice.

Hermione walked over slowly and turned the sink off. Malfoy turned to face her for a moment, before splashing his face with the water in the slowly draining sink.

"What to you want, Granger?" he said, in an attempted sneer that was ruined by the face that there were still tear stains on his cheek.

Hermione smiled softly at him. "It's okay, you know. To cry. It only means that you're human."

Malfoy was immobile. "You don't know anything Granger. You don't understand."

"Understand what?" Hermione said impulsively.

Malfoy glared at her. "Why do you care, you filthy Mudblood?" he said, suddenly in a much harsher tone. "Now get out!"

Hermione held her ground. "I care, _Draco_, because I'm human. I don't want others to suffer, and I don't want to listen to people cry and know that I could help."

"Well you're not helping!" Malfoy said angrily, but much more quietly.

"Malfoy… you need to talk to someone. If not me (and I can understand why), then someone else. You need _someone_. People care about other people- that's just the way it is."

Hermione stood up and made to leave, but Malfoy's voice stopped her.

"I… I have to do this. He'll kill me otherwise."

Hermione whirled around to face Malfoy. There was no need to ask who 'he' was.

"I don't want to. But he'll kill me… and he'll kill my mother. I have to do this." He looked earnestly at Hermione, begging her to understand. Hermione nodded, even though she didn't understand, she didn't understand anything at all about this broken boy in front of her.

"I… he's going to make me kill… he's going to make me murder him!"

Hermione shifted closer to Malfoy in a vain attempt to provide some sort of comfort. "Then you really are…" she trailed off, not wanting to offend. Malfoy laughed bitterly.

"Oh yes, I am," he said, almost hysterically as he pulled up his left sleeve to reveal the Mark. "My father made me get it. This summer! And the Dark Lord has already singled me out for a mission! And if I fail-"

Draco paused, looking almost insane for a moment before he started to cry again. "Why am I even talking to you, Granger? Get out. Get out!"

And Hermione left him to his misery.

Draco Malfoy was going to kill someone. Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater. Draco Malfoy could cry.

All those were revelations to Hermione.

And she knew she would never tell anyone. Even if Malfoy was planning murder, she wouldn't tell. Because she owed him that much.

Sure, it meant endangering lives. But after seeing him like that, she felt like interrogations weren't what he needed right now. He needed someone to comfort him, someone for him to confide in.

Maybe she could be that person.

Maybe she'd check Myrtle's bathroom again to see if he was there.

Maybe she could show him how to leave the Death Eaters.

Maybe she could be his friend.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

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**What did you think? Review please! I love reviews!**

**I may make this a twoshot. What do you think? Do you want another chapter, maybe from Draco's POV?**

**-- Stace**


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